[Drama 2022] Reborn Rich / 재벌집 막내아들

[mskololia1]

Ok, I went with the ending and loved it.

 

It was because I did not realize closer was needed for YHW too.  What a wicked web the SY family created to protect itself from outsiders and within their clan.  Father having son take responsibility and entrapping him to maintain control was crazy and like eating chocolate devil’s food cake with chocolate icing.  I had to partake.

 

OMO.  We were given two sides of the tracks so to speak.  The writer(s) gave us the average son’s side in the end and not the entitled son’s only.

 

Brilliant!

[andy78]

20 minutes ago, maribella said:

It's still sad. We had DJ for almost 10 episodes and he was killed. Even if his memory is passed into HW. The donuts, the last words he spoke to MY. It looks like she glimpsed DJ in HW, just like the driver did.

same feeling

 

heartbreaking ...almost 20 years  of mourning the death of her fiance

[mskololia1]

Now that i can breathe, who sings the theme song?  Loved listening to it from the beginning.

[andy78]

i really really loved grandad & Dojun so much, their chemistry, their character are the best of all.. Too bad that they have to gone just like that...that scened with DJ mom ,dad and brother in front of their son grave...such pain...heartbreaking...i loved DJ and his familly moments.

 

For me  is just another great drama ruined by the ending ...1-15 were great

[agenth]

It's been a wild ride, friends! Reborn Rich has ended with 50% viewership, and with people either hating or loving the ending. What do you think about it? Share your thoughts here and also please vote in our poll /(also thanks to @partyon for creating a question!) 

 

reborn friends:

@andy78 @maribella @mskololia1 @Sun2woo @hush puppy @backstreetboysfan @taekwang @marrez1 @Rollito Deprimavera @Lunkera @aria26 @SoYammy  @Jean Chua @minglanfan2@nitepolaris @bliss1004 @Madmolise

@Miky88 

 

 

re: @confusedheart @Sleepy Owl @partyon

 

[Kathy]

Another promising kdrama gone bust for me.  So many episodes from mid point on were repetitive ways of messing with the Soonyang clan of criminals and to my mind NOTHING had a good resolution.  I think that is because the whole premise was impossible.  

[mskololia1]

My two cents for what it’s worth….The overall premise or theme of the drama was surrounding how international markets view the so-called “Korean Discount”.

It got answered when the Jin family stepped down from SY due to their corruption and threat of imprisonment.  I gathered they were facing prison if they held out.  This chaebol held on like ruling a dynasty of old as if royalty with princes and princesses as rightful heirs to rule their conglomerate with subsidiaries that they were bleeding.  

 

Having decided to give SY to DJ, Grandpa told DJ to register the SY Financial Group as a corporation to be set as the next chairman of SY.  

 

These thieves did not want to deal with shareholders having the majority of shares to retain management rights. Miracle took them down and brought the conglomerate into modern times for the stockholders, government, and consumers.  Yay!

[backstreetboysfan]

Here are the ratings for Episode 16! *Last episode* .

 

 

“Reborn Rich” Ends On Its Highest Ratings Yet; “Red Balloon” Soars To New All-Time High

JTBC’s “Reborn Rich” has gone out with a bang!

 

On December 25, the smash hit drama starring Song Joong Ki achieved the highest viewership ratings of its entire run for its series finale. According to Nielsen Korea, the final episode of “Reborn Rich” scored an average nationwide rating of 26.9 percent, marking a new personal best for the series.

 

The figure also marks a new record for the second-highest viewership ratings of any cable drama in Korean history, bested only by JTBC’s 2020 hit “The World of the Married” (which peaked at a nationwide average of 28.4 percent).

 

“Reborn Rich” Ends On Its Highest Ratings Yet; “Red Balloon” Soars To New All-Time High | Soompi

 

[minglanfan2]

We ended where we began -with HWY.The change, he had his idol the chairman teach him the ropes of being a succesful businessman.He was a good learner and like DoJin's grandfather chartered his path with nothing but his brains.Like the old man he had no fancy degree and came from humble beginings.

The concept deviation from the novel was interesting but the plot execution for the last episode could have been better.

DJ's loyal secretary stood by him till the end.

DJ's fiancee couldn't end up with HYW.Since the romance was underwhelming I didn't mind it.

Couldn't wrap around my head why DJ's dad went along with covering the incident of his son's death. It was an unnecessary additional burden of grief for his wife and surviving son.

In the end S.Korea'amazing stride from a poor economy in the 40's to a developed one in the 21st century shined the brightest.

[Newbie21SG]

I personally like the ending as it is the most realistic out of of all the possible alternatives.

 

Remember, the story is first about Yoon Hyun Woo and only later the POV switches to Jin Do Jun. 

Without YHW being shot and wounded, we wouldn't see how he was "Reborn Rich" as JDJ and lived the life as the youngest grandson of a Chaebol for 17 years. 

 

It is also all about "Repentance", the aptly titled last episode of the entire serial! While YHW didn't really cause the killing of JDJ, he was an accomplice and thus his decision to confess after Ha In Seok's testimony was deemed invalid was appropriate and brought closure to the murder accident 20 years ago!

 

Yes, some parts of the last episode doesn't make sense, such as the recording of YHW's conversation with Secretary Kim, which ended up with Jin Dong Ki being found to be the master-mind of the murder of JDJ! But well, I will accept it.

 

I also think that in actuality, JDJ and YHW do not look alike and it is only because Song Joong Ki plays both of them in the serial. It goes back to the theme of "Repentance" brought up! YHW tried to erase the image of JDJ since the accident but he couldn't and therefore, it gave the viewers the impression that they both look alike when in reality they are not! What the characters (such as Seo Min Young) see as an image of a person (i.e. Yoon Hyun Woo in this case) may not be the same as what viewers do (which is what the producer and director want us to see, i.e. a splitting image of Jin Do Jun).

 

Overall, I give "Reborn Rich" a solid 9/10 rating and it fully deserves being the SECOND-HIGHEST rated drama serial in Korean cable television history (26.95%, 6.277m viewers nationwide) and definitely one with the most buzz this year!

[maribella]

Not a bad ending, but I like it a little only.
I was hungup on the two in one body which rather spoil it for me. Now to untie the knots in my head:

For the timeline:

DJ was the son of Yoon Ki for 10 years when 40 plus year old HW travelled back in time and jumped into his body. 

 

My first estimate is that HW is 10 years younger than DJ. So at the 'jump' time, he might not be born yet or just an infant. 
 

While HW is growing up as DJ, being adored by his grizzly Grandpa, in the lap of luxury, HW was growing up with a weak father and hardworking dependable mother, in poverty. There are two of them.

There are two of them!!

Regardless of what HW/DJ did, his father messed up and the mother died unhappily and poor.

 

Then the fateful day when HW was paid by the nasty, slimy assistant Kim to park his lorry or do something on HW/DJ's route, HW has finished high school, maybe early twenties and so DJ/HW is in his early 30's. SJ the cousin is older than HW/DJ by 5-10 years ( guesstimate) so he is in his 40's. 
 

HW blackmailed Kim into giving him a job on the fateful day and worked for SY for 20 years (he said to Kim " twenty years ago") before being sent to Turkey on a wild goose' chase.  Not really but I like the Turkey-wild goose idea.

HW was said to be in his 40's at the 'jump' time. But HW version 2 said he was DJ for 17 years, which means DJ/HW was 27 years old when he was killed. So for 17 years, there were two of them, DJ/HW  and HW version 1.

 

back to timing; 
I need to revise HW to be the same age thereabouts as DJ for him to be in his 40s at jump time. working backwards, DJ/HW was 27 years old at time of death, plus 20 years, HW version 1 was around 47.

 

Then he was almost killed by local Turkish hoons before turning into a 10 year old boy - which means when he turned 10, there was also a 'ten-ish' Yoon HW.

 

Now, I am clear about their ages. Sorry Chingus... I needed that exercise. 

 

How did HW turn into DJ for 17 years? Forget this. Absolutely no explanation, at least spiderman was bitten by a glowing spider, usually an earthquake caused some energy imbalance to change beings, but not here; we were not told how.

 

Ep 14 says they are in two different worlds; explaining the two of them (DJ/HW and HW version 1. Then there is one HW version 2 which we may assume to be HW body and DJ memories? But he did say that prosecutor was the woman 'he' loved, I am taking that he is now HW body but DJ's essence or soul or consciousness.

 

OK that's it for the timeline. Later, I sm going to figure out the material/mass balance.

 

 

 

 

[maribella]

The poll is much better than the ending imho @partyon

 

[Shimmery-summer]

Okay lots of question with regards to ending and I am finding no answers.

 

1) If dojun and hyeon woo looked same, then why did noone ever tell hyeon woo or he himself didn't find that out. Even min yeong doesn't recognize him as dojun. I dont get this same face thing. I did think that prolly in his dream he had same face as dojun but then when dojun's parents visit his grave it was hyeon wu's photo on grave.

 

2) I really don't understand, really really don't, that hyeon woo who knows that the guy who is in car before him is dojun, who also has great memory that he remembers every freaking single event from past in his new life/dream then how come he doesn't remember how dojun dies, at what place he dies. Also given that dojun was massively popular in his life, he was everywhere from newspapers, to mag covers to large lcds mounted on buildings, it is impossible for someone as informed as hyeon woo to not know him.

 

 

3) hyeon woo's phone was extremely basic thru which he talks to yong ki's secretary at site of incident, it doesn't look like the phone that would record the call. It seems hyeon woo since start of the call was recording it, why was he recording the call already? 

 

 

4) Who actually tries to get hyeon woo killed. Seongjun, but then he asks his wife if she's curious he killed his employee. Or is it his wife who tells him she wants to be like grandma to be ready to kill anyone who comes in path of succession. Because other than seongjun noone else seems strongest candidate.

 

5) hyeon woo stays in dojun's body but he only knows stuff dojun does,that doesn't mean he becomes as brainiac smart as dojun, but we see he has suddenly become a different guy who is quite savvy and gifted post coma.

 

6) firstly,i am not getting out of both guys having same face part and noone noticing but what I am more confused about is that in his dream dojun achieves all his success due to his prior knowledge of future, which definitely wasn't the case with original Dojun as he was a different guy. So either it's that that Dojun did take all those decisions that Hyeon woo took but dojun did out of his genius and hyeon woo out of his prior knowledge, that means when hyeon woo was living as dojun,dojun wasn't even there, then how come fake dojun's interactions with min yeong are same as original dojun because we see towards the end he says some lines and minyeong remembers dojun saying them, that seemes like a plothole. As if hyeon woo wasn't living as real dojun, it seems his main purpose in that body was not to romance min yeong or understand dojun but to understand the mindsets of that family and how they operate.

 

7) so basically as hyeon woo says what he has now is the ability to understand how soonyang family members' minds think, so the actual reason for him to go in that body was that; so they spend 14 episodes with a guy in a different body so that in 16th episode he can take away management rights of that big family by understanding their mindsets and tactics. A lengthy 14 episodes worth of build just to culminate in a single episode in just a span of 10 minutes is kind of quite disppointing and that too with the main character acting so weak and insignificant, basically taking everyone down with just a small call recording. 14 episodes of fierce company takeover fight and then in the end what wins is a small call recording.

 

8) how hyeon woo suddenly becomes so rich to own a merc,plus what are his special skills to get hired by miracle investment?

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Shimmery-summer

[Jean Chua]

6 hours ago, maribella said:

My first estimate is that HW is 10 years younger than DJ. So at the 'jump' time, he might not be born yet or just an infant. 

HW was 2 years younger than DJ. HW’s emergency passport stated he was born in 1979 while DJ’s tomb stated he was born in 1977. HW couldn’t be 10 years younger than DJ because HW was there when DJ went back to the shop after running out of Grandpa’s bday. Remember the scene where a boy ran past DJ as his new family was bringing him to the car? 

 

HW was in DJ from 1987 to 2004, so 17 years is correct!

 

They kept saying 20 years ago but it was actually 18 years since the accident happened in 2004. I guess they just went with a round up when talking about the past as we sometimes do? Its like how I know I graduated from college 17 years ago but I might say 20 years when talking about it.

 

I actually like that they went the Scarlett way, which is to bring the person back to the original timeline, cos that feels to be neater. And that kinda answers @maribella prev question of why HW was sent to DJ’s body: he was sent to remind himself that he caused DJ’s death and that he can right that wrong.

 

Though pls explain to me how one survive a near gunshot to the head and only having to stay in the hospital for a week??? Was the gunman so bad? And why would HW have a recording of his hysterical call with Mr Kim? These don’t really make sense to me but I’ll let go in the grand scheme of things.

 

I do like the little Easter egg of HW using SJK’s birthday as the temp passcode!  

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Jean Chua

[maribella]

11 minutes ago, Jean Chua said:

And that kinda answers @maribella prev question of why HW was sent to DJ’s body: he was sent to remind himself that he caused DJ’s death and that he can right that wrong.

It seems weak to make him responsible or feel responsible for getting paid to do a job of meeting someone. Yes,  he is part of a murder plan unknowingly, no court would find him guilty for murder or manslaughter. He should get his licence suspended. 
 

But we know, without that excuse we would not enjoy 14-15 episodes of RR. 
 

 

11 minutes ago, Jean Chua said:

Though pls explain to me how one survive a near gunshot to the head and only having to stay in the hospital for a week??? Was the gunman so bad? And why would HW

MY saved him, so we can extrapolate and say that it was just a scratch that bled a lot and HW said he was shot in the head; just an exaggeration since us viewers know better. 
Also do not forget that kdrama skulls are hard and heal very quickly without loss of hair. I'd hate to see a bald SJK.

[Newbie21SG]

52 minutes ago, Jean Chua said:

HW was 2 years younger than DJ. HW’s emergency passport stated he was born in 1979 while DJ’s tomb stated he was born in 1977. HW couldn’t be 10 years younger than DJ because HW was there when DJ went back to the shop after running out of Grandpa’s bday. Remember the scene where a boy ran past DJ as his new family was bringing him to the car? 

 

HW was in DJ from 1997 to 2004, so 17 years is correct!

They kept saying 20 years ago but it was actually 18 years since the accident happened in 2004. I guess they just went with a round up when talking about the past as we sometimes do? Its like how I know I graduated from college 17 years ago but I might say 20 years when talking about it.

 

I actually like that they went the Scarlett way, which is to bring the person back to the original timeline, cos that feels to be neater. And that kinda answers @maribella prev question of why HW was sent to DJ’s body: he was sent to remind himself that he caused DJ’s death and that he can right that wrong.

 

You have explained the timeline perfectly  Indeed, the only reason why HW was sent to DJ's body was for him to repent later on as what I wrote earlier. 

 

The previous episodes (from Ep 2 to 15) were not for nothing as they outlined the legacy of Jin Yang Cheol and his relationship with Jin Do Jun (with Yoon Hyun Woo living in it for 17 years). Those plot-lines also showed how terrible each and every family member related to JDJ was (perhaps including his dad, Yoon Ki too!)

 

It also made YHW realise in Episode 16 that he could no longer just listen to what his master says (first Jin Young Ki and then later on Jin Seung Jun). Without living through the life as JDJ, he wouldn't be brought to repent and confess to his involvement in JDJ's murder. Remember, we are only back to YHW's POV as himself in Episode 16, after he woke up from his coma, after living through as JDJ!

 

It also make YHW realise that the only way to "avenge" for JDJ's death was to strip Soonyang's family members of all management rights to Soonyang, which YHW and Chairman Mason Oh accomplished at the end of the serial! 

 

What eventually won the takeover fight wasn't just a simple recording but an act of repentance that built up over about 20 years, and the sense to "right the wrong"! Therefore, I find this ending, and not just a simple "JDJ winning the battle and inheriting Soonyang" as more realistic and likely to happen as whatever that already happened in the past (both JYC and JDJ dead, together with YHW's mom) could not be reversed (otherwise there might be chaos!).

 

52 minutes ago, Jean Chua said:

Though pls explain to me how one survive a near gunshot to the head and only having to stay in the hospital for a week??? Was the gunman so bad? And why would HW have a recording of his hysterical call with Mr Kim? These don’t really make sense to me but I’ll let go in the grand scheme of things.

 

Yup, the recording was the only plot-hole to me in the last episode. As for surviving the near gunshot to the head, I think many serials are guilty of this too! If YHW were to die, there wouldn't be repentance which eventually caused the downfall of Soonyang's family members!

[andy78]

Seo Minyoung is 46 years old... they met at college in their 20s, in 1996, now is 2022, 26 years passed. 26 years and she still remembers the words he told her the first day they meet. She still loves him... but even if  she found peace i feel so sad...heartbreaking...i'm a romantic i liked the novel ending more. Where Dojun marry Minyoung and become the chairman of Soonyang. Then he travel to the place where HW died and held a funeral for him...

Some of us viewers feel lost because we spend 15 episodes rooting for Do Jun. HW is still a stranger for us at this point.

[Jean Chua]

7 hours ago, Shimmery-summer said:

Okay lots of question with regards to ending and I am finding no answers.

 

1) If dojun and hyeon woo looked same, then why did noone ever tell hyeon woo or he himself didn't find that out. Even min yeong doesn't recognize him as dojun. I dont get this same face thing. I did think that prolly in his dream he had same face as dojun but then when dojun's parents visit his grave it was hyeon wu's photo on grave.

 

2) I really don't understand, really really don't, that hyeon woo who knows that the guy who is in car before him is dojun, who also has great memory that he remembers every freaking single event from past in his new life/dream then how come he doesn't remember how dojun dies, at what place he dies. Also given that dojun was massively popular in his life, he was everywhere from newspapers, to mag covers to large lcds mounted on buildings, it is impossible for someone as informed as hyeon woo to not know him.

 

 

3) hyeon woo's phone was extremely basic thru which he talks to yong ki's secretary at site of incident, it doesn't look like the phone that would record the call. It seems hyeon woo since start of the call was recording it, why was he recording the call already? 

 

 

4) Who actually tries to get hyeon woo killed. Seongjun, but then he asks his wife if she's curious he killed his employee. Or is it his wife who tells him she wants to be like grandma to be ready to kill anyone who comes in path of succession. Because other than seongjun noone else seems strongest candidate.

 

5) hyeon woo stays in dojun's body but he only knows stuff dojun does,that doesn't mean he becomes as brainiac smart as dojun, but we see he has suddenly become a different guy who is quite savvy and gifted post coma.

 

6) firstly,i am not getting out of both guys having same face part and noone noticing but what I am more confused about is that in his dream dojun achieves all his success due to his prior knowledge of future, which definitely wasn't the case with original Dojun as he was a different guy. So either it's that that Dojun did take all those decisions that Hyeon woo took but dojun did out of his genius and hyeon woo out of his prior knowledge, that means when hyeon woo was living as dojun,dojun wasn't even there, then how come fake dojun's interactions with min yeong are same as original dojun because we see towards the end he says some lines and minyeong remembers dojun saying them, that seemes like a plothole. As if hyeon woo wasn't living as real dojun, it seems his main purpose in that body was not to romance min yeong or understand dojun but to understand the mindsets of that family and how they operate.

 

7) so basically as hyeon woo says what he has now is the ability to understand how soonyang family members' minds think, so the actual reason for him to go in that body was that; so they spend 14 episodes with a guy in a different body so that in 16th episode he can take away management rights of that big family by understanding their mindsets and tactics. A lengthy 14 episodes worth of build just to culminate in a single episode in just a span of 10 minutes is kind of quite disppointing and that too with the main character acting so weak and insignificant, basically taking everyone down with just a small call recording. 14 episodes of fierce company takeover fight and then in the end what wins is a small call recording.

 

8) how hyeon woo suddenly becomes so rich to own a merc,plus what are his special skills to get hired by miracle investment?

 

 

Sharing my thoughts on your questions: 

 

1. They are definitely meant to look different. In drama world, a pair of spectacles can change a person’s looks completely!

 

2. That’s selective memory for you. Guess the incident was too traumatic for HW that he pushed it to the back of his head and only recalled after living through it again.

 

3. This is my bugbear too. After thinking it a bit more, I’m going to explain that it was Mr Kim who recorded the call as insurance against Jin Young Ki and HW somehow came across it in the course of working with Mr Kim and then kept it for his own insurance. 
 

4. It’s implied to be SJ in my view, but it could well be his wife too since the money went to her cousin in the end.

 

5. HW is bright! He was supposed to go to college but couldn’t as he had to work for money. 
 

6. That’s the problem with time travel stories - they will never make sense. I’m going to go with HW actually living as DJ in the first timeline but don’t ask me what happened to the real DJ and how a future HW can travel back and “possess” DJ.

 

7. The straw that broke the camel’s back?

 

8. HW has 20 years of experience working in SY after all, plus his intelligence, that should count for something. His salary at Miracle might have paid for the car? 
 

10 hours ago, minglanfan2 said:

DJ's loyal secretary stood by him till the end.

DJ's fiancee couldn't end up with HYW.Since the romance was underwhelming I didn't mind it.

 

Mr Ha is the real MVP in this! Two accidents and still alive!  

 

I like how it ended, with HW seeming to understand that he should not try to pursue the lost love cos it’s just not the same. I would hope they move on and find new love interests separately.

 

10 hours ago, minglanfan2 said:

Couldn't wrap around my head why DJ's dad went along with covering the incident of his son's death. 

I don’t think he covered for the death. It seemed he genuinely thought nobody in the family would be able to do something that horrible to his son. He looked horrified when it was revealed that Jin Young Ki was behind the whole thing.

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Jean Chua

[Jean Chua]

1 hour ago, andy78 said:

Some of us viewers feel lost because we spend 15 episodes rooting for Do Jun. HW is still a stranger for us at this point.

It’s funny you said this because after reflecting, I think I’ve been rooting for HW all these while. DJ is the stranger to me because I never knew him. The DJ I knew was HW since the beginning.
 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Jean Chua

[maribella]

1 hour ago, andy78 said:

Some of us viewers feel lost because we spend 15 episodes rooting for Do Jun. HW is still a stranger for us at this point.

The writer is teasing us with the ending which has SJK has solidly HW, talked to his, his brother at his old apartment, but at the same time he has DJ's memories and feelings. Would a man go through a life as another person and come out untouched? Not in this one. HW version 2 is not wearing glasses, confident and determined. His clothing changed. 

 

@andy78 I am with you. Even if the romance was stone cold, DJ' parents deserved a happy life with their son instead of the parents splitting. Atoning for his part by bringing down the SY family can be achieved as DJ or HW.

If HW had contributed to DJ's murder - unknowingly as I had written earlier, he had paid much more for it. The betrayal by his understudy and people he had served for 20 years is worse than him taking a simple job.  

But if he really had kept the recording that identified the murderer, he was an accessory and that carried the same sentence as a murderer -  from American 'tec shows. 
 

 

30 minutes ago, Jean Chua said:

It’s funny you said this because after reflecting, I think I’ve been rooting for HW all these while. DJ is the stranger to me because I never knew him. 
 

He was HW for a couple of episodes but when he started bonding with his grandfather and seeing his old parents in their old lives without him, he had become DJ to me. He died as DJ.